ST. PAUL, Minn. - In a series moved from Mankato to the field turf at Northwestern, the Minnesota Morris softball team kicked off UMAC play Thursday with a doubleheader against Bethany Lutheran. The Vikings would sweep the twin-bill by scores of 5-4 and 8-0.

Game 1: BLC 5, UMM 4
The Cougars took three different leads in the contest, but lost on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh. UMM got on the board first when Kallie Wycoff brought in Megan Knickerbocker with an RBI single in the first. The Cougars added two more in the second to take a 3-1 lead. Emily Nordquist and Becca Holland each singled with one out. Paige Dahlberg drove in Nordquist with a single to center then Holland scored on an RBI groundout. Bethany tied it at 3 by the fourth, but Knickerbocker quickly gave the Cougars the lead back with a leadoff home run in the fifth. Bethany would tie it again in the fifth then won the game on the walk-off. Knickerbocker went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Game 2: BLC 8, UMM 0
Bethany scored multiple runs in the first, third, and fifth innings to put an early end to the contest. The Cougars collected six hits with Holland and Lacey Sullivan each getting two.

Minnesota Morris (6-16, 0-2 in UMAC) is next scheduled to play Crown Wednesday in Morris. Games originally scheduled for Monday at Concordia-Moorhead are moved to April 19.